


Déjà vu

by ohmyrowling



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 15:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2513363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmyrowling/pseuds/ohmyrowling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a dad causes Percy to experience some major déjà vu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Déjà vu

"Daddy, how do I look?"

Percy looks up from his briefcase and smiles. Mandy has always had a unique sense of style. When she was three she liked to wear Percy's ties around her head. When she was four, she wore her Ariel costume everywhere. Now she's five and it's her first day of school. Her outfit is certainly special- a pink skirt over blue and green polka dotted leggings with a Camp Jupiter tshirt (courtesy of aunt Hazel and uncle Frank) and her red rain boots.

"Well, you'll certainly stand out," Percy says, suppressing a laugh. "Although, best not wear your Camp Jupiter shirt. It's a secret, remember?"

Mandy looks suddenly grave and she darts out of the room to go change.

Annabeth sweeps into the kitchen then, her shirt half-buttoned and Ben gurgling contentedly in her arms, pulling at her loose curls.

"Please take your son," she says handing the baby off to Percy, wincing as Ben gives her hair one last pull.

"Oh he's my son today? Yesterday when he walked across the living room he was your son," Percy says amusedly.

"Yeah, well yesterday he wasn't pulling my hair," Annabeth says before she gulps down a cup of coffee.

"That stuffs hot, ya know," Percy says, his eyes wide and his throat burning from just the thought of chugging a whole cup straight from the pot.

"Fire cannot kill a dragon," Annabeth says seriously and Percy laughs.

"You and Piper have been watching way too many reruns."

"How's this, Daddy?"

This time Mandy has opted for a pair of yellow jog pants and a bright pink tank top with a ruffly purple bolero sweater over it.

"Tell you what," Percy says settling Ben in his high chair. "You let me help you pick out your clothes and you can help me pick out mine. Deal?"

Mandy grins and jumps in place a few times for good measure. "Deal!"

Annabeth smiles as she makes Ben a bottle and Percy and Mandy disappear into their daughter's bedroom.

It takes awhile (probably longer than is absolutely necessary, in Percy's opinion), but finally Mandy settles for a denim skirt and a blue and white striped top with tights and her sparkly sneakers. Percy wears his usual slacks and button down with the mustache-print tie with Mandy had given him for Father's Day last year. Annabeth snorts when she sees him and he grimaces.

"You'll certainly stand out," she says, trying to keep a straight face as Mandy eats her blue waffles.

(The kids at the high school where Percy teaches history find his tie hilarious and they love the pictures of his kids that he passes around.)

 

* * *

"Well, how do I look?"

Percy feels a strange sense of déjà vu. It’s like he's been sucker punched in the gut by a really angry monster because wasn’t she just five years old yesterday?

Mandy is wearing a knee-length, sea foam green dress that matches her eyes perfectly and her curly black hair is piled intricately on top of her head.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Annabeth says with a smile.

Percy doesn't know what to say. He all of a sudden feels like he should go out and buy a shotgun but then he checks himself and realizes how archaic that sounds. (Besides, he's always got Riptide.)

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather wear your Ariel costume?"

Mandy laughs and kisses her father on the cheek. Percy just blinks as Annabeth helps their daughter fix her hair before her date shows up to take her to her first high school dance.

When Gregory arrives Percy does his best overprotective dad impression and Annabeth actually tears up a bit. Mandy kisses them both goodbye while Ben reads in the other room, clearly unaffected by the fuss his sister is causing, and five-year-old Hannah complains that she wants to go to the dance too.

"I feel old," Percy says when he closes the door behind his oldest daughter and her date.

"You are old," Annabeth says looking at him over her glasses. "You've got grey hairs and everything."

Percy runs a hand through his hair self-consciously and frowns.

“Don’t worry,” she says putting her arms around his neck. “I like it. You’ve got that whole Silver Fox thing going on.

"Daddy, how do I look?"

Hannah emerges wearing her Cinderella costume and a pair of Annabeth's high heels with a plastic crown in her messy, brown curls.

Percy laughs. Annabeth smiles at him before removing her arms and straightening Hannah’s crown.

"Like a princess. But we already knew that."

Hannah giggles as Percy bends over in a deep, over-exaggerated bow. “May I have this dance, your Highness?”

She nods and Percy sweeps her up in his arms. He dances them around the room to the beat of the song he’s humming (out of key) as she giggles. Annabeth turns the radio on and coaxes Ben off the couch to dance with her. It only takes a few minutes for his stony expression to crack with a smile and the four of them have their own Homecoming dance.

When Mandy gets home, Ben and Hannah are zonked out on the couch and Percy and Annabeth are sitting at the kitchen table in their pajamas with a bottle of wine. There’s something familiar about her smile that Percy can’t put his finger on. Her cheeks are slightly red and her hair is falling out of its pins but she’s smiling and her eyes are sparkling. And it hits him- he looks like Annabeth had looked after their prom. Of course, they’d had a run in with a rather vicious hellhound after the dance ended so Annabeth had torn her dress and she was sweaty as all get out, but the look had been the same as the one on Mandy’s face now.

“Have fun?” Annabeth asks, looking almost as giddy as Mandy.

Mandy sighs. “It was amazing.”

Annabeth grabs her daughter’s hands and smiles. “Oh sweetheart, I’m so glad.”

Percy smiles as Mandy relates the whole night to her mother. He listens quietly until she gets to the part where Greg kissed her goodnight and then he chokes on his wine. Annabeth rolls her eyes and Mandy sighs.

“Daddy, please. What do you think happens when people go on dates?”

Percy splutters for a moment before he can actually speak. “I know what happens on dates. Which is why I’ve just decided you aren’t allowed to go on them again until you’re 30.”

Annabeth snorts and Mandy laughs like he’s talking nonsense.

“Ok Dad, whatever you say.”

(She goes out with the boy again a week later and Percy understands what Paul meant when he said, “Just wait until you have a daughter” when Sarah had started dating.)


End file.
